Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has disclosed that a total of 312,448 students have benefited from the government’s No Academic Fees Policy over two academic years at a total cost of GH¢888.8 million.
Updating Parliament on the implementation of the policy on Thursday, the minister said 152,698 students benefited during the 2024/2025 academic year for GH¢399.3 million. He added that 159,750 students benefited in the 2025/2026 academic year for GH¢489.4 million.
Mr Iddrisu described the No Academic Fees Policy, popularly known as the “No Fee Stress” initiative, as a major social intervention that has significantly reduced the financial burden on students while improving access to tertiary education.
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“The policy is actively transitioning towards a direct-to-institution disbursement model, which will strengthen accountability and streamline delivery in subsequent academic years,” he told Parliament.
The minister also revealed that 1,530 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) had received full tuition and residential support under the Free Tertiary Education for PWDs initiative for GH¢9.8 million.
In addition, he disclosed that GH¢16,433,905 had been disbursed as full-fee coverage loans to 1,332 students, including 610 students of the Ghana School of Law, for the 2025/2026 academic year through the Student Loan Trust Fund.
Mr Iddrisu stated that GH¢127,832,498 had been disbursed under the enhanced student loan scheme to support 46,679 students for the first semester of the 2025/2026 academic year.
He stressed that the government remained committed to sustaining the No Academic Fees Policy and assured Parliament that adequate funding had been provided by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson.
“There is no outstanding obligation in respect of ‘No Fee Stress’ for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026. The Honourable Minister of Finance has made adequate releases to the Student Loan Trust, which is executing the policy. What we do is just authentication,” he explained.
On another matter, the Education Minister expressed concern over the allocation of 42 per cent of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) budget to support the School Feeding Programme under the Free SHS policy, arguing that the arrangement had contributed to the country’s educational infrastructure deficit.
He therefore proposed a realignment of GETFund resources to focus more on foundational learning, particularly literacy and numeracy.
However, the Member of Parliament for Atiwa East, Abena Osei-Asare, disagreed with the arrangement, arguing that allocating 42 per cent of GETFund resources to the School Feeding Programme was inappropriate because it fell outside the fund’s core mandate.
She consequently called for alternative sources of funding for the programme to ensure that GETFund resources are used strictly for their intended purpose.